Poem

Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman’s boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanish’d hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.

Summary

In the first stanza, The poet addresses the waves of the sea, telling them to crash against the rocky shore again and again. Then the poet laments that he is unable to express his grief at the death of his friend. The torment of his heart is tremendous. There is a struggle like the struggle of the sea waves on the stormy shores.

In the second stanza, the poet sees the fisherman’s son and daughter in a joyous mood. They play together laughing and shouting. The young sailor also sings on the boat. Their joyous mood enhances the sorrow of the poet as such joy is not for the poet.

In the third stanza, he sees the huge ships on the sea traveling to their destination under the hill but he has no destination. He misses his friend so much that he can feel the touch of a vanished hand of his friend and he can still hear the soft and tender voice of his friend. The grief of the poet is terrible and intense.

In the fourth stanza, the poet further asks the waves to go on strike against the seashore, but the poet cannot recall the happy old days that he enjoyed in the company of his friend, as the days will never come back

বাংলা সারসংক্ষেপ

প্রথম স্তবকে কবি সমুদ্রের ঢেউকে সম্বোধন করে পাথুরে তীরে বারবার আছড়ে পড়তে বলেছেন। তারপর কবি বিলাপ করেন যে তিনি এতটাই শোকাহত,যার কারনে তিনি তার বন্ধুর মৃত্যুতে শোক প্রকাশ করতে তিনি অক্ষম। তার হৃদয়ের যন্ত্রণা প্রচন্ড। ঝড়ের তীরে সাগরের ঢেউয়ের লড়াইয়ের মতো সংগ্রাম যেন তার হৃদয়ের ভেতর হচ্ছে।

দ্বিতীয় স্তবকে কবি জেলের ছেলে মেয়েকে দেখেন আনন্দিত মেজাজে। তারা একসাথে হাসছে আর চিৎকার করছে। তরুণ নাবিক ও নৌকায় গান গায়। তাদের আনন্দ মেজাজ কবির দুঃখকে বাড়িয়ে দেয় কারণ এমন আনন্দ কবির জন্য নয়।

তৃতীয় স্তবকে তিনি দেখেন সমুদ্রের বিশাল জাহাজ পাহাড়ের নিচে তাদের গন্তব্যে যাত্রা করছে কিন্তু তার কোনো গন্তব্য নেই। সে তার বন্ধুকে এতটাই মিস করে যে সে তার মৃত বন্ধুর হাতের স্পর্শ অনুভব করতে পারে এবং সে এখনও তার বন্ধুর মৃদু ও কোমল কন্ঠ শুনতে পায়। কবির দুঃখ ভয়ানক ও তীব্র।

চতুর্থ স্তবকে, কবি আবারও সমুদ্রের ঢেউকে সমুদ্রতীরের বিরুদ্ধে আছড়ে পড়তে বলেন, কিন্তু কবি তার বন্ধুর সান্নিধ্যে যে সুখী পুরানো দিনগুলি উপভোগ করেছিলেন সে দিনগুলোকে পুনরায় আহবান করতে পারেন না, কারণ দিনগুলি আর ফিরে আসবে না।

Theme

The effect of the death of a loved one is the central theme of this poem.

Rhyme Scheme:

Rhyme scheme of the poem is: ABCB

Author Position

Author position of the poem is: Subjective

Tone

Tone of the poem is: Sad and nostalgic.

Generic Form

This poem is an elegy. An elegy is a kind of poetry that is written to mourn the death of near and dear one. In this poem, the poet mourns for the death of his friend, Aurther Henry Hallum.

Figures of speech

Figures of speech mean the use of ornamental elements in a piece of writing. The poet has used a variety of figures of speech in this poem. They are given below:

Metaphor: An implicit comparison between two dissimilar things.
For example:
“And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill” –
Here the ship is a metaphor for life as it is indirectly compared to life.

Personification: It is a figure of speech in which lifeless objects are given life.
For example:
“…a day that is dead”
Here ‘day’ is personification, as the poet attributes the human quality of dying to the day.

Synecdoche: It is a figure of speech in which a part of something stands for the whole.
For example:
“But O for the touch of a vanish’d hand
And the sound of a voice that is still” –
Here, hand and voice stand for the whole person, the poet’s dead friend.

Onomatopoeia: Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they refer to or describe.
For example:
“Break, break, break”
Here it is onomatopoeia as it reflects the sound of the waves.

Apostrophe: Apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses someone or something that is not present or cannot respond in reality.
For example: “O Sea!”
Here the poet addresses the sea directly as if it were capable of responding to him.

Alliteration: it means the repetition of consonants at the beginning of two or more words.
For example: boat on the bay, stately ships.

Imagery: Imagery is the collective use of images. (Picture into words).
For example: Sea, ships, fisherman’s son who plays with his sister, sailor lad who sings on his boat